Threats to estuaries

[MichaelXY]

We have plenty but the problem is funding. For example, a lot of people here have been trying to persuade the government to expand the levee system along the Mississippi River for as long as I've been alive, warning that if nothing was done a major hurricane would cause massive devastation. Yet the government ignored such warnings until after Hurricane Katrina had already flattened New Orleans.

That said, the federal government is not without its share of blame. After the levees were breeched following Katrina, Army helicopters were dispatched to drop sandbags into the breaches to stop the flooding. They were called off in mid-flight because President Bush didn't want to spend federal money. I'm sorry, but I think in the given situation, saving lives was much more important than who was paying the chopper pilots' salaries. The result: New Orleans flooded and lots of people died that could've been saved. Thank you, Mr. Bush.

Your comparing cream corn and peas here. First your talking about estuaries and lack of funding from the government. Then you mention as long as you remember the levee system should have been addressed. (All of which the state government should have been doing something, not the feds).

Then you bring up post Katrina, not fair, as if you note in my first post I mentioned

Emergencies not included such as Katrina

As I feel in such cases, it is the duty of all Americans to come to the aid of a wounded state.

Blame Bush over what transpired during Katrina if you like, and I will not dispute it as I do not know all the facts, however, I do believe the real blame should be placed on state for not taking preventative measures long before, as I would assume they surely must have known this was a potential disaster.

[pirategrl01]

haha from what ive heard im not the biggest fan of bush either!

[alextemplet]

I won't disagree that the state should've done much more, but as I mentioned previously Louisiana's political system is among the most corrupt in the country. That said, a lot of conservation projects are administered on a federal level through the Army Corps of Engineers, which requires federal funding. Most parishes in the coastal regions also administer their own conservation projects. So really, it's a combination of national, state, and local problems.

I was thinking earlier today, one of the problems in this country is that we have too many levels of government, each with all sorts of different agencies, all of them competing for funding. I wonder if there's a better way to streamline all of this bureaucratic mess.

[MichaelXY]

I won't disagree that the state should've done much more, but as I mentioned previously Louisiana's political system is among the most corrupt in the country.

Perhaps much of this is due to voter apathy. Louisiana's is ranked 24th in the state percentage wise relating to voter turnout.

That said, a lot of conservation projects are administered on a federal level through the Army Corps of Engineers, which requires federal funding. Most parishes in the coastal regions also administer their own conservation projects. So really, it's a combination of national, state, and local problems.

Fair enough, I see your point here.

I was thinking earlier today, one of the problems in this country is that we have too many levels of government, each with all sorts of different agencies, all of them competing for funding. I wonder if there's a better way to streamline all of this bureaucratic mess.

If you could figure that one out, then I would suggest you run for office

[alextemplet]

I think increasing voter turnout in Louisiana would first require educating the state. Our public education system is ranked 49th out of all 50 states. I think we gave up decades ago when we decided that as long as we're better than Mississippi, we're alright.

I could also rant about the decrepit quality of education in the nation as a whole, but if I do I might accidently shatter my keyboard with too much typing, so I'll bite my tongue.

As a humurous aside, here's four very good reasons why the US is the dumbest nation on the planet:
1) We voted for Clinton.
2) We voted for him again.
3) We voted for Bush.
4) We voted for him again.
Need I say more?

[AstusAleator]

I just *almost* applied for a Natural Resource Conservation position in New Orleans, with the federal government. I decided it would be way too depressing and frustrating though.
That whole region is ecologically ****ed. Know what I mean? And without having ever lived there, I know that trying to bring about any worthwhile change would be equivalent to smashing my head against a brick wall.

It's really sad that we've turned one of our biggest ports, and the mouth of our largest river into the nation's excretory orifice.

[alextemplet]

It's really sad that we've turned one of our biggest ports, and the mouth of our largest river into the nation's excretory orifice.

I was thinking about that just the other day, actually, as I was looking at the Mississippi River while visiting New Orleans. I was thinking about the the literal crap that must be flowing down that river. Half the waste of North America, and people down here are dumb enough to swim in it. I guess that explains the atrocious state of our public education!

I probably will end up taking a job in conservation around here. Being as this is my home, I want to try to do what I can and maybe, just maybe, I can stop it from disappearing. Experts currently predict that, with the current rate of erosion, by the time I'm 50, my home town (currently about 80 or so miles from the coast) will be beachfront property.